Dublin hurlers secure division one status

Dublin finished their National Hurling League campaign with an easy victory over a poor Limerick team, securing their Division One status in the process.

The 6-30 to 2-11 victory was only Dublin’s second win of the league, and meant they finished second from the bottom of division two.

Their next outing will be in the quarter final of the Leinster Championship, when they will play the winner of Carlow V Laois for the chance to play Kilkenny.

Anthony Daly and his players will be looking to build on last year’s impressive performances which saw them lose to Kilkenny in the Leinster final, before losing to Limerick in the All Ireland quarter-final.

Dublin will be favourites to beat the winner of Carlow V Laois but the semi-final against Kilkenny is likely to be a bridge too far at this stage of their development.

Although Dublin put in an impressive display against Kilkenny last year, there was never a feeling that the Cats were in any danger of losing.

In the quarter-final against Limerick, Dublin felt they left the game behind. On the day their young players left scores behind in a match they lost by four points.

Daly hopes that the players, as well as the management, will learn from the mistakes made that day.

Daly felt that the players were overawed by the occasion. But the management must take some of the blame for that, as well for poor substitutions which gave Limerick the edge.

Daly will be hoping that the new additions to the squad will give Dublin greater strength in depth and help them close out tight matches, which they struggled to do last year.

In Alan McCrabbe, Dublin has one of the most promising young players in the country. Following an impressive season McCrabbe was rewarded as Dublin’s first hurling All Star winner since 1990. Dublin will need him to be accurate from the placed ball once again this season.

Daly will be looking for youngsters Liam Rushe, David Treacy and Oisín Gough to build on last year’s displays. Stephen Hiney at full back will provide the leadership and a platform for Dublin’s forwards to get the scores.